Kids and Money
Bank of Mom & Dad's Money Coach: The truth about debt
Farnoosh Torabi
Nov 6th 2009 at 6:15PM
Filed under: Credit, Debt, Kids and Money, Saving Money, Health, Bankruptcy, Video, Credit cards
Eat well on $50 a week: Challenge, or no duh?
Sarah Gilbert
Nov 6th 2009 at 5:00PM
Filed under: Budgets, Food, Kids and Money, Simplification
The headlines for various projects and challenges to eat on a small food budget always slurp me in with their titillation, the gauntlet-throwing, and immediately I ask myself: could I do it? The answer always disappoints, because I'm either doing it already or find the challenge so impossible it's meaningless. Eating on $1 a day per person?Like Netflix for your closet: New way to swap old clothes
Bonnie McCarthy
Nov 6th 2009 at 10:30AM
Filed under: Bargains, Kids and Money, Technology
Has the passion waned? Lost that loving feeling? Instead of banishing your scorned clothing ("It's not you, it's me...") to the back of the closet, it may be time to 'ThredUP."
Transforming fashion flings into peer-to-peer style "swaportunities," ThredUP, a Cambridge, Mass. start-up plans to pioneer the $2 billion dollars-worth of potential they see in the used clothing market.
Touted as a fashionable blend of Netflix, StubHub and eBay, ThredUP is the brainchild of co-founders and "Chief Knitwits" James Reinhart, Oliver Lubin and Chris Homer. Reed Hastings, founder and chief executive of Netflix is an adviser to the company. Far from being fashionistas, the ivy league grads and former roomies are poised to capitalize on the convergence of trends in "green" recycling, economics and the public's ever increasing comfort with online transactions.
The new online clothing exchange, ThredUP.com has been live for five weeks and is currently in its beta stage with a small community of 6,500 beta members. In an interview with WalletPop, Reinhart says the beta members have been trading for two weeks and satisfaction ratings are posting high. He reports the amount of clothing posted for trade has also reached staggering proportions in only a few weeks.
WalletPop readers are invited to join the early adapters. When registering on the member screen, enter the code "WalletPop" and you can get started.
Hungry for the holidays. 1/2 of kids in the U.S. will be fed with food stamps
Gina Roberts-Grey
Nov 3rd 2009 at 6:00PM
Filed under: Budgets, Home, Kids and Money, Health
This holiday, visions of sugar plums won't dance in the heads of nearly half of America's kids. That's because a new report says these kids might not be sitting down to a holiday feast. Or those who are sitting down to a holiday meal, they will be "feasting" on a paltry one.
"49% of all U.S. children will be in a household that uses food stamps at some point during their childhood," says the author of a new study, Mark R. Rank, Ph.D., poverty expert at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. A sign Rank says is a clear indication of poverty and food insecurity. "Two of the most detrimental economic conditions affecting a child's health."
Stay in school? Slumdog stars risk losing trust fund, apartment, more
Sarah Gilbert
Nov 2nd 2009 at 4:15PM
Filed under: Kids and Money, Celebs & Money
Sweet, saucy, and from the slums, Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail both went from wretched poverty to international fame after starring in the 2009 Academy Award winner for Best Picture and Best Director, Slumdog Millionaire. But they just won't go to school, even though the movie's producer and director got the young stars placed in a Mumbai school and paid their tuition until they turn 18... and even though they've set up a trust that's dependent on the children attending school for the next seven or eight years.
Ali, 10, and Ismail, 11, have average attendance of about one in three days, and though Slumdog producer Christian Colson and director Danny Boyle have urged their parents to accept their offer of apartments outside of the slums, only Ismail's mother has taken the moviemakers up on their offer.
Too much candy? Donate (some of it) to a good cause
Julie Tilsner
Nov 2nd 2009 at 3:45PM
Filed under: Kids and Money, Simplification, Charity
So Halloween's over and now you have bags of candy -- literally bags -- lying around promising to do some serious damage to your kids' teeth and your waistline. What to do? Eat it? Throw it away? Put it in the garage and forget about it? We at WalletPop think we've found an answer to this most vexing of parental dilemmas: Donate your extra bags of Halloween candy to a charitable cause.Send your extra candy overseas -- Several organizations send donations of all kinds to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Operation Gratitude will happily take your donations of extra bagged candy to distribute to troops (find more info about procedure here and scroll to the bottom of the page.). Operation Shoebox will take your candy - also any extra socks or old cell phones you care to donate.
Some local dentist offices will buy back your extra candy for $1 a pound, and ship it themselves to U.S. troops abroad. Check here to see if dentists in your area are offering this program.
Ronald McDonald House charities welcomes donations of your extra candy (provided it's in the original wrapper, of course). Check its website for specific giving policies at the Ronald McDonald House near you.
Your local Meals on Wheels charity, which takes meals to housebound seniors, will take your extra candy. Click here to find a local chapter.
As always, women's shelters, churches, synagogues and other places of worship will accept donations of extra candy. The PTA at your child's school may also be happy to have your (bagged) extra candy for use in harvest and holiday festivals.
Probably best to involve your kids in this operation, since while they won't object to sending half their candy to a worthy cause, they will definitely object to losing all of their swag.
Thanks to CoolMomPicks.
Disney Cruise Lines - inside cabins dismal no more
Jason Cochran
Oct 30th 2009 at 2:00PM
Filed under: Bargains, Kids and Money, Technology, Transportation, Travel, Economizer
In the next generation of Disney Cruise Line ships, the windowless inside cabin may be the ones kids beg their parents to book. In a boon to budget travelers, the cheapest, least desirable cruise stateroom category will be getting a major sexing up in January of 2011, when the Disney Dream, now under construction, is christened.All inside cabins on the new Dream will be equipped with an oh-so-Disney innovation: the "virtual porthole." Above the bed, a round TV window will be embedded in the wall, made to look like an old-fashioned ship's porthole. Through it, the tenants in the modern equivalent of steerage will be able to watch live, streaming high-def images of the ocean outside, just as the guests in more expensive cabins see it for real.
Five Halloween kids' costumes you can make at home
Bonnie McCarthy
Oct 30th 2009 at 11:30AM
Filed under: Home, Kids and Money, Simplification
This year we've been scared straight. Halloween costumes will not only be judged on their cuteness or creep factor but also their cost.
With this in mind, it's time to get creative. Think Project Runway: the home version. The challenge: Create children's costumes utilizing household items to assemble a Halloween ensemble that won't haunt the budget til Christmas. Oh, and your kid has to be willing to wear it. Although, free candy is a terrific motivator...
Obvious answers include a neighborhood costume swap, or the time-honored tradition of sibling sharing. Borrowed sports or cheerleading uniforms, re-purposed bridesmaid dresses (see, it really can be worn again!) or sleepwalker-style pajamas are also fun, easy and most importantly free(!) options. The hobo look hits a little close to the nerve this year, it would be more fanciful to dress up like someone with eighteen months of living expenses in savings and flowing credit at zero percent interest...but I digress.
If you've already mined familiar themes for hauntings past, following are five fabulous costume tricks that treat your wallet right.
SAT score online: More instant gratification for today's kids
Sarah Gilbert
Oct 29th 2009 at 4:15PM
Filed under: College, Kids and Money
Thursday, October 29, is a date many of you would have circled on your calendar... if you still circled things on paper calendars. It's the day SAT scores for the test taken October 12 are available online.My preschooler is now a homeowner, and other tales of fraud
Sarah Gilbert
Oct 28th 2009 at 12:30PM
Filed under: Borrowing, Home, Kids and Money, Ripoffs and Scams, Tax, Fraud, Mortgages, Taxes-tax credits
Homebuyers did not have to truly be first-timers in order to qualify for the "first time homebuyer" tax credit, expiring Nov. 30; they only had to meet the limitation of not having owned a primary residence for the past three years, with income limits of $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for married taxpayers. According to the Treasury Department, however, 4-year-olds (and other individuals incapable of legally signing a purchase agreement) don't count.
In an Internal Audit Report meant to assess the 2008 filings in anticipation of a surge in claims for the 2009 tax season, as many as 90,000 claims were determined to be potentially ineligible, and 528 of those were to homebuyers under 18.
The federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers is $8,000.
Social networking saviors: Twitter, Facebook used in effort to help save a baby's life
Gina Roberts-Grey
Oct 28th 2009 at 6:15AM
Filed under: Kids and Money, Technology, Health
Social networking is helping to save one very tiny baby's life. Jaeli Brow came into the world last June with an extremely rare condition -- a chromosomal mutation that makes her incapable of tolerating most forms of nutrition, including most formula and breast milk, or to put on weight. For a tiny baby fighting to gain even a few precious ounces (Jaeli weighed just 5 pounds, 4 ounces when she was born), the condition can be life threatening.
Earlier this month, the situation grew even more dire when Jaeli's family found themselves struggling to afford the one type of milk that she can stomach. But thanks to donations from 60 or so perfect strangers who read about her on Facebook and Twitter, Jaeli has received some much-needed meals.
Toys R Us Big Toy Book on Facebook and iPhone
Josh Smith
Oct 28th 2009 at 12:01AM
Filed under: Bargains, Kids and Money, Saving Money, Shopping, Black Friday
Watch out kids -- and adults who love toys: the Toys R Us Big Toy Book, which is billed as the "Biggest Big Book Ever!" is on its way to your front door and, for the first time, you'll be able to browse it on the iPhone and Facebook.In addition to its new online presence the Big Toy Book is packed with more than $5,500 in savings on toys of all varieties, and features a two-page spread complete with FAO Schwarz deals that will be available in Toys R Us stores.
Toys R Us provided WalletPop with a sneak peak at the 2009 Toys R Us Big Toy Book, where we found the following deals for the kid inside of everyone.
Want to help your teenager find his passion? Leave him alone!
Zac Bissonnette
Oct 27th 2009 at 11:00AM
Filed under: Kids and Money
Eilene Zimmerman over at The New York Times offers some great advice for a parent who wants to know "What, if anything, can parents of high-school-age children do to guide them toward their true professional calling?"Zimmerman writes: "Some parents are apt to put pressure on their children about choosing a first career, thinking that it will determine the course of their lives. Yet as adults, we often reinvent ourselves more than once, moving among professions. So whatever your children choose now won't necessarily define their future."
Exclusive: Anti-kid vid group ponders forcing name change for all 'Baby Einstein' videos
Lou Carlozo
Oct 26th 2009 at 8:15PM
Filed under: Kids and Money, Consumer Complaints
Call it the E = MC squareoff.
Bolstered by its successful anti-screen media campaign that led Baby Einstein to offer a refund for its kid videos, leaders at a Boston-Based non-profit are weighing whether to fight on -- and demand that Walt Disney Company drop "Einstein" from the name altogether, WalletPop has learned in an exclusive.
"We absolutely think they should change the name, but we haven't decided yet what we're going to do with our campaign," says Josh Golin, associate director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC). "We also think that Hebrew University, which licenses the rights to the Einstein name, should reconsider what kind of product they want his name associated with."
At issue for CCFC is whether it thinks continued use of "Einstein" in the megabrand's moniker constitutes a continuing claim of educational value in the videos, targeted largely at kids aged five and under. While "pleased" with Disney's offer to refund $15.99 each for up to four Baby Einstein videos, Golin says he'll watch the campaign closely "to see how things play out."
It's 10 p.m. Do you know where your kid is? Check your GPS
Julie Tilsner
Oct 26th 2009 at 6:30PM
Filed under: Kids and Money, Technology, Relationships
Here's the latest salvo in the battle for ultimate control over our children. Best Buy is selling a GPS device that will tell you where your child is every minute of the day. In a sign that child-tracking devices have gone mass-market, it's the first store brand with such an offer. Best Buy is marketing it under its house brand name, Insignia.
It is designed to fit into a backpack and will send a text message back to parents whenever the child has moved outside a "designated" area, such as their school, after-school program, or babysitter's backyard.
The device surely is being aimed at parents with school aged and older kids, since they're the ones presumably who can wander out of eyesight. I can't imagine there being much of a concern of babies escaping, although you never know with parents these days.
The price for this false sense of control? Only $99. Cheap, considering some of the other options out there. That's a house brand for you.
